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While City Manager Dave Slezickey described this week’s flooding as “a moderate inconvenience” inside city limits in comparison to storm damage in other areas of the state, county roads may tell another story.

The county’s rural roads had already been ravaged by the first two rounds of floods in a seemingly endless storm system, but weekend downpours – some areas getting in excess of 13 inches of rain – wreaked additional havoc.

District 2 road crews worked throughout the weekend and on Monday, Memorial Day, in an attempt to provide isolated residents a “way out.”

District 2 Commissioner Ray Alan Shimanek said first efforts were dedicated to getting those residents pinned to their homes a way to get out.

“Our crew didn’t have a Memorial Day holiday, working early to late not only on Saturday and Sunday but on Monday, also.”

Shimanek said that he didn’t get home Friday night due to the flooding.

“The water’s going down now, so that helps,” he said of repair efforts.

“We’ve got 13 trucks out here now,” he said, referring to repairs under way on a road east of Dover.

He said 150 loads of fill material had been used on Beard Road at last count.

District 1 Commissioner Jeff Moss said virtually every road in his 500-mile district had some damage.

“We’re still finding new areas of damage daily, and some areas we feel certain have sustained damage are not accessible by vehicle yet.”

Moss said the District 1 road crew worked until about 3 a.m. each day to get the most critical areas repaired.

“We’re having to prioritize, getting bus and mail routes repaired first, then other major routes.

He asked for residents’ patience as crews work through the mess.

Moss said he hoped to be able to announce a total evaluation of the damage later in the week.

District 3 Commissioner Heath Dobrovolny could not be reached for comment Tuesday.

All commissioners were keeping a watchful eye on weather reports for the possibility of additional rain, which would further intensify the damage.

City-county Emergency Manager Steve Loftis estimated flood damage could exceed $1 million across the county.

A state emergency management official was to arrive Tuesday to begin assessing damage to residences and business properties.

Between 2.5 and four inches of water entered several businesses on Kingfisher’s west side but most of them were cleaned up, washed out and reopened.

At least three residences were affected by floodwaters entering them and several others got water in basements to a depth of two or three inches.

Northeast of Dover, Jeremy Ingle’s residence had water over head high in the basement. Ingle reported 13.5 inches of rain from last week’s downpours.

Loftis said some of the houses sustaining water damage were affected by groundwater accumulations from the excessive rains.

The Cimarron River exceeded its flood stage – 17 feet – by some five feet.

It crested Saturday and was expected to recede to below flood stage by the weekend.

Additional damage assessment to infrastructure will begin later in the week after county commissioners have a chance to review their entire districts.

If those assessments exceed the county’s threshold – $56,000 – then the assessments will be forwarded to FEMA for potential disaster aid.

County commissioners declared a disaster last Tuesday before the last round of flooding.

Numerous county roadways were washed out, some as deep as 12 feet. Extensive work will be necessary to rebuild the roadbeds before work can begin on driving surfaces.

Loftis said motorists could not travel north or west from Kingfisher Saturday as both U.S. 81 and S.H. 33 had areas covered by flood waters.

Loftis said one area of S.H. 33 west of Kingfisher was inundated by runoff from a field.

Motorists wanting to go north were advised to detour east to I-35 and those wanting to travel west were re-routed to I-40.

Asked if the 2019 flood might be determined the worst in recorded history, Loftis said a flood in 2007 might have been as bad.

Loftis said he had recorded 11.7 inches of rainfall at the National Weather Service station in Kingfisher since May 16.

The heavy rainfall has caused damage to the county’s maturing small grain crops. drowning out these plants in spots in numerous fields.

Seven-day rainfall readings from Mesonet stations include: Kingfisher 11.0, Watonga 7.6, Guthrie 8.3, Fairview 7.27, Seiling 4.74, Lahoma 7.49, Woodward 4.8, Alva 5.85, Cherokee 5.8, Hooker 1.81, Cheyenne 5.15, Erick 5.38, Mangum 4.52, Tipton 3.08, Chickasha 3.85, Minco 5.18, El Reno 7.16, Yukon 6.13, Marshall 11.65, Lake Carl Blackwell 10.28, Perkins 9.03 and Tulsa 7.07 inches.

Heavy rainfall in the Cimarron River drainage system in Northwest Oklahoma late last week contributed to the big rise on the river, slowing down the drainage from local streams.

Kingfisher County OSU Extension Agricultural Agent Bryan Kennedy said the flooding had taken a definite toll on the county’s ripening small grain crops.

There are drowned out spots in fields along waterways that overflowed their banks that have been heavily hit.

Kennedy predicted the harvest will start later than normal because of a cooler than normal spring.

He noted also that because of an unusually wet growing season the plant stalks are weaker than normal, making them subject to lodging.

He noted damp soil conditions may hamper heavy harvesting equipment from getting on fields.

Because of a heavy vegetative cover, fields are expected to be slower than normal in drying out.

City Issues

Like rural roads, city streets were impacted both by flash floods and creek and river overflow over the weekend.

“We had multiple electric outages Friday night, but Kingfisher Electric was able to restore services in a timely manner,” Slezickey said.

“The flash flooding caused issues at the underpass pumps due to the intense amount of water received.

“The water department was able to keep the pumps running and drain it out quickly.”

As more roads closed, employees from the street, parks, community development and other departments stepped in to help staff roadblocks.

“The biggest challenge was advising pass-through traffic on alternate routes without knowing access or blockage outside of the immediate area,” Slezickey said. “We figured that county, ODOT and Oklahoma Highway Patrol resources would be scattered covering such a large area, but we’re very appreciative of everyone that provided assistance.”

Some city street washouts were reported on Fourth Street, the swinging bridge sustained damage, as did the Bowman Avenue bridge and culvert on Elks Drive, he said.

The Kingfisher Airport Authority also reported water in the pilot’s lounge.

Slezickey said he would be visiting with local residents and businesses in the west bottom and east side to continue to assess damages.

He also expressed appreciation to 911 operators for their work throughout the disaster.

“They did an amazing job communicating effectively with all agencies as well as responding to general public inquiries,” Slezickey said.

“I know we often overlook those stuck in the basement, but they were essential to public safety throughout the events, and their efforts are greatly appreciated.”

Kingfisher Fire Chief Tony Stewart reported 13 emergency calls during the flood, including five rescues, two of which were canceled enroute and two of which were outside city limits.

“We didn’t have any injuries that I’m aware of to either residents or first responders,” he said.

Brian Walter, who escaped flooding at Walter Building Center during the first two rounds of high water, was not as lucky Sunday.

After the water crested on North Main Street, he found himself with five inches inside his building, but he, family members, employees and volunteers spent Memorial Day on the cleanup effort.

Kingfisher Police Chief Dennis Baker reminds residents who have come in contact with flood water to check to see that tetanus vaccines are up to date.

Those vaccines are offered at the Kingfisher County Health Department.